AHA Advocacy

• Guiding Principles on Taking a Public Stance (June 2017)

  The Council of the American Historical Association issues a statement on when it has the right to take public stands in defense, most of which has to do with the rights and careers of individuals, considered as historians. (Created 2007; Updated 2017)

• Policies and Procedures for Considering Amicus Brief Requests (January 2020)

  The AHA may consider requests for endorsing amicus briefs that coincide with the AHA's Guiding Principles for Taking a Public Stance. Such requests may be submitted by members of the Association, litigants, or other scholarly associations.

• AHA Sends Letter of Concern about Missing Chinese Scholar (March 2024)

  The AHA has sent a letter to President Xi Jinping of the People’s Republic of China expressing “concern for the fate of Professor Rahile Dawut, a scholar of Uyghur studies who has apparently been sentenced to life in prison and whose specific whereabouts are unknown.” Professor Dawut, missing since 2018, has “been detained and sentenced in connection with her peaceful exercise of the right to academic freedom” in a situation that, in addition to raising concern for Dawut’s well-being, “raises questions about the ability of intellectuals in China generally to conduct scholarship safely and freely.” The AHA urges President Xi to secure Professor Dawut’s immediate and unconditional release.

• AHA Sends Letter to South Carolina State University Opposing Plan to Cut Majors (February 2024)

  The AHA has sent a letter to leaders at South Carolina State University expressing grave concern about a plan to cut majors in history, African American studies, and social studies teaching at the university. “Cutting a core liberal arts degree like African American studies or history is short-sighted. Civic leaders from all corners of the political landscape have lamented the lack of historical knowledge of American citizens,” the AHA wrote. “Cutting social studies education is an especially irresponsible move at a moment when teachers are being prohibited from teaching the truth about slavery, the Civil Rights Movement, or the continuing centrality of racism in American public culture.”

• Coalition of Organizations Submit Letter Opposing Florida SB 1372 (February 2024)

  The AHA, as part of a nonpartisan coalition of organizations, has signed on to a letter opposing Florida SB 1372, which would threaten the integrity of K–12 history education in the state. This statement expresses “serious concerns that the bill is not constitutionally viable, is overly vague, and is an example of viewpoint discrimination that is contrary to free speech and expression. . . . This bill could create a new generation of history teachers who are unsure how to teach material about slavery, the Civil Rights Movement, or women’s suffrage.”

• AHA Sends Letter to Florida Legislature Opposing Harmful K–12 Teacher Training Bill (February 2024)

  The AHA has sent a letter to Florida legislators opposing HB 1291/SB 1372, a “heavy-handed and inappropriate intervention in college curricula, classroom instruction, and professional learning.” The proposed legislation, the AHA writes, “would require educators teach a history that is incomplete, tendentious, and politically driven rather than based on evidence and consistent with professional standards. . . . SB 1372 establishes a mechanism for censoring classroom teaching and learning, and hence stands in stark opposition to academic freedom and true intellectual diversity.”

• AHA Sends Letter to Iowa House of Representatives Opposing Bill on K-12 Social Studies Curriculum

  The AHA has sent a letter to the members of the Iowa House of Representatives opposing HF 2544, a bill that “directly encroaches on the authority and expertise of the members of the Iowa State Board of Education, sidestepping statutory minimum requirements for the educational program and bypassing the state’s mandated process for developing social studies standards.” The proposed legislation, the AHA wrote, “is a Frankenstein’s monster constructed out of disembodied portions of five out-of-state model bills” that “leaves no room for input from teachers, administrators, historians, or parents.”

• AHA Action Alert Opposing Florida Teacher Training Bill (February 2024)

  AHA Action Alert Opposing Florida Teacher Training Bill

• AHA Letter to Indiana Legislature Opposing “Intellectual Diversity” Tenure Bill (February 2024)

  The AHA has sent a letter to members of the Indiana House Education Committee opposing Senate Bill 202, which would “create a policy for granting tenure and terminating the appointments of tenured faculty based on how well that faculty member has fostered ‘intellectual diversity’ within the classroom.” The bill, the AHA wrote, “inserts the will and judgment of politically appointed boards of trustees into the fundamental work of university faculty” and “would create conditions of uncertainty for faculty, presenting situations where their jobs are on the line for the infraction of not having enough arbitrarily decided ‘variety’ in their ‘political or ideological frameworks’ . . . mak[ing] it easier for public interest groups and politicians—of either party—to weed out faculty with whom they disagree.”

• AHA Letter to Nebraska Legislature Opposing Bill to Eliminate Tenure (February 2024)

  The AHA has sent a letter to the Nebraska state legislature opposing LB 1064, a proposed bill that would eliminate tenure in state universities and colleges. “If passed [LB 1064] will severely diminish the ability of the state's public universities to recruit and retain the quality of faculty required for first-rate teaching and research,” the AHA wrote. “Any public university in the state would immediately become an employer of last choice among scholars who desire an environment amenable to high-quality teaching and research.“

• AHA Sends Letter to Manhattan College Opposing Termination of History Faculty Members (January 2024)

  The AHA has sent a letter to the president, acting provost, and chair of the board of trustees at Manhattan College expressing “grave concern about the termination of two members of the history faculty.” “The history department will be cut in half from six to three through these and other faculty eliminations,” the AHA wrote. “As a Lasallian institution with a strong tradition of liberal arts education, Manhattan College has a particularly impressive record of high-quality history education provided by an accomplished faculty committed to undergraduate education. The AHA urges the administration to consider how its actions are undermining this commitment to the liberal arts and the training of teachers, and the importance of the liberal arts to the lifelong learning essential to occupational and professional success.”

• Resolution Passed at the 137th Business Meeting (January 2024)

  At the 137th Business Meeting of the AHA (held on January 6, 2024), the AHA membership approved the resolution "In Defense of the Right to Learn." The resolution was accepted by the Council on January 24, 2024.